Navigating Around A Single Image In A Layout

Navigating around inside an image that's part of a multi document layout in Photoshop CS4 is no different from navigating around a single image that's open on the screen. To zoom in on one of the images, simply click on it to select it, then hold Ctrl+spacebar (Win) / Command+spacebar (Mac) to temporarily access the Zoom Tool and click on the image at the spot you want to zoom in on. To zoom out, hold down Alt+spacebar (Win) / Option+spacebar (Mac) and click on the image. Of course, you can also grab the Zoom Tool from the Tools panel, but you'll probably find that the keyboard shortcut is faster and more convenient.

To pan an image around inside its document window, hold down the spacebar by itself, which gives you temporary access to Photoshop's Hand Tool, then click on the image and drag it around with your mouse. Again, you could grab the Hand Tool from the Tools panel, but unless you're getting paid by the hour, the keyboard shortcut is faster. Check out our Zooming and Panning in Photoshop tutorial if needed for much more information on navigating around your images.

Navigating All Images In A Layout At Once

What if you want to zoom or pan all of the images in a layout at once? No problem! Simply add the Shift key to the single image shortcuts we just looked at! To zoom in on all images in a layout at once, hold down Shift+Ctrl+spacebar (Win) / Shift+Command+spacebar (Mac), then click on the image. Holding Shift+Alt+spacebar (Win) / Shift+Option+spacebar (Mac) and clicking on an image will zoom out of every image in the layout:

To pan all images in a layout at once, hold down Shift+spacebar, then click on any of the images and drag it around with your mouse. The other images in the layout will move around with it:

Matching The Zoom Level And Location Of The Images In A Layout

If you've zoomed in on one of the images and want to quickly match all of the other images in the layout to that same zoom level, first make sure the image with the zoom level you want is selected, then choose the Match Zoom option from the Arrange Documents menu:

If you've panned one of the images and want to quickly send all of the other images in the layout to that same area of the image, make sure the image you want to match the others to is selected, then choose the Match Location option from the Arrange Documents menu:

You can also quickly match both the zoom and location of all images in a layout by first selecting the image you want to match the others to, then choosing the Match Zoom and Location option from the Arrange Documents menu:

Sending The Images Back To The Tabs

Finally, if you're done comparing your images and want to switch back to the tabbed document layout, simply click on the same Consolidate All option in the Arrange Documents menu that we looked at earlier:

And there we have it! Comparing multiple images in Photoshop has never been easier thanks to the new multi document layouts in Photoshop CS4!

Want an easier way to follow along with our tutorials? Download them as printable PDFs!

Looking for more Photoshop Basics tutorials? View our complete collection!

Go to page: 1 | 2